1. Field
This invention relates to a medical prosthesis and, more particularly, to a graft prosthesis for placement within a corporeal lumen, such as the lumen of a blood vessel or artery.
2. State of the Art
Various fluid conducting body lumens, such as veins and arteries, may deteriorate or suffer trauma so that repair is necessary. For example, various types of aneurysms or other deteriorative diseases may affect the ability of the lumen to conduct fluids and in turn may be life-threatening. In some cases, the damaged lumen is repairable only with the use of prosthesis such as an artificial vessel or graft.
For repair of vital vessels such as the aorta, surgical repair is significantly life-threatening. Surgical techniques employed involve major surgery in which an artificial section of vessel is spliced into the diseased or obstructed lumen. That is, the damaged or diseased portion of the lumen may be surgically removed or bypassed and an artificial or donor graft inserted and stitched to the ends of the vessel which were created by the removal of the diseased portion. Kaj Johansen, Aneurysms, Scientific American, 247:110-125, July 1982. A variation of the typical suturing technique is described by Albert W. Krause, et al., Early Experience with Intraluminal Graft Prosthesis, American Journal of Surgery, 145:619-622, May 1983. The device illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,662 to Razgulov, et al. is an example of a device to be used in such a surgical procedure.
Other devices for the repair of lumens or vessels such as veins and arteries include a nitinol coil with a graft. The nitinol coil is reduced in dimension when cool. When placed in the body its temperature increases, and it returns to a preselected dimension to hold a graft within the lumen of the vessel. Such devices are discussed in detail in Charles T. Dottner, et al., Transluminal Expandable Nitinol Coil Stent Grafting: Preliminary Report, Radiology 147:259-260, April 1983 and Andrew Cragg, et al., Nonsurgical Placement of Arterial Endoprostheses: A New Technique Using Nitinol Wire, Radiology 147:261-263, April 1983. The use of devices such as the previously discussed nitinol wire may not be desirable due to the danger of penetrating and damaging the vessel's wall during the emplacement process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,126 to Choudhury discloses a device for intraluminal repair of an aneurysm. This device is positioned in a vessel in a collapsed form and then hooked into the vessel with hooks that are mechanically extended by the user. This device is mechanically complex and in turn is susceptible to mechanical failure.
Other intraluminal devices are known, for uses other than the repair of a diseased lumen or vessel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,388 to King, et al. discloses a system for closing off a septal defect or shunt in the intravascular system in the myocardial area. U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,629 to Cohn discloses a device for restricting the flow of blood. U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,854 to Boretus, et al. teaches construction and placement of an artificial aortic heart valve. U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,394 to Hunter et al. teaches construction of an intraluminal device to occlude a blood vessel. U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,431 to Mobin-Uddin teaches construction of an umbrella-like filter for intraluminal use. MEDI-TECH, Inc. of Watertown, Mass. sells a device known as the GREENFIELD Vena Cava filter for intraluminal placement. U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,528 discloses a device that is implanted into the vas-deferens or similar lumen for the splicing of the lumen parts.
None of the devices noted above disclose a reliable and quick means or method to repair a vessel intraluminally.